


Sisters: A Coda

by Madalena



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Extended Scene, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 06:24:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6693067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madalena/pseuds/Madalena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Extended version of the cavern scene with Regina and Zelena at the end of 5x19 "Sisters".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sisters: A Coda

**Author's Note:**

> I thought the end of “Sisters” called for a more extended scene between Regina and Zelena as they leave the cavern, one that addresses questions of how and why Cora could walk into the light, and why Regina and Zelena would be so quick to put their differences aside with the remembrance of a childhood memory.

The sisters stepped back from their hug and wiped their tears away. Cora had walked into the light, and now all they had was each other.

“I didn’t think that she’d be redeemed.” Zelena said as they walked out of the cavern. “I thought with everything she’d done… ripping out hearts, murdering people, what she did to make you into the Evil Queen… I thought those flames would take her straight to hell. She might have brought us together, but does that really outweigh a lifetime of evil deeds?”

“I don’t think it was her unfinished business that redeemed her.” Regina said, wiping away a last tear.

“What do you mean?”

“Bringing us together as sisters, returning our memories, that was her unfinished business. But her unfinished business is not the same thing as what let her walk into the light.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Mother felt that bringing us together was the most important she had to do. Her unfinished business. But even after accomplishing that, there wasn’t anything that forced her to walk up that bridge. She could have stayed here, in the Underworld, I’m sure of it. But she made that walk up the bridge, not knowing where it would take her, because she felt at peace, and was ready to accept whatever that judgment… call it fate, call it justice… would grant to her. Choosing that, accepting her fate whichever choice was called down, I believe that is what granted her redemption. She went out there knowing that it was possible, and hell, even probable, that she’d be sucked down by the eternal fire.”

“So being ready to take on eternal punishment meant that she could escape it?”

“Something like that.”

“You sound like you have experience with that sort of thing.”

“In a way. In Storybrooke, after the first curse broke, I still did a lot of bad things. With Mother. Then she died. I wanted to destroy Storybrooke and escape back to the Enchanted Forest with Henry. So I went to get the failsafe I built into the curse to use it to do so. But before I could, I was kidnapped by those anti-magic people. Greg and Tamara. They tortured me. They found the failsafe device, and they set it off. And we were running out of time to escape it.”

“So what happened? Clearly Storybrooke still exists.”

“There was one other way to stop it. Me. By going down into those caves to deactivate the device, I was ready to give up my life, to die as myself and not the Evil Queen. It should have killed me.”

“But it didn’t.”

“It didn’t. Because of the Charmings and their eternal insufferable hope. Emma added her magic to mine, and together we could deactivate it without anyone dying.”

“Lucky break.”

“It was. But in that moment when I chose to die to save everyone else, I felt like Mother did when she walked out onto that bridge. Knowing she did the right thing, knowing that it probably didn’t make up for all the hurt she’d caused, but was ready to accept judgment for it.”

“So you agree with what she said. That it isn’t too late for me.”

Regina stopped and looked at her sister, squeezing her hand. “Dear, while you’ve done a fine job of trying to screw up my life and the lives of the people I love, you’re still small potatoes compared to the destruction and havoc that my mother and I have brought upon the world. If you put all of that anger and jealousy behind you, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“You really believe that?”

“I do. If Mother could be redeemed in the end, so can both of us. I know what you’ve done, Zelena. Most of it to me and my loved ones. And I forgive you. You’re my sister, and I know what that can mean now.”

Zelena smiled through a fresh batch of tears. “Do you really mean that?”

“I do.”

“How did Mother know that telling us about our past together, restoring our memories, that that would make us want to put everything that’s happened over the past years aside?”

“Because it reminded us of what we had both always wanted. The same thing that only children around the world and across the realms want. Especially only children who have distant or cruel parents. Someone closer to their own age to share the world with. A brother or a sister.”

“How could she possibly know that?”

“I don’t know much about her past, but I imagine it is how she might have grown up as well. And then realizing that by denying it to us, that she made a huge mistake. But not one that was too late to fix. By restoring the memories of something that we had for a brief moment, she showed us that we didn’t have to be enemies. That we could be sisters like we were so long ago. We lost that, but we can have it again. Have each other to count on.”

“I hope that’s true. I hope we don’t screw it up like we’ve screwed up so many other things.”

“We’ll always be here to tell each other if we do. That’s one thing we’ve always been good at.”

“Your friends won’t like this.”

“I think they will. You know why?”

“Why?”

“They are more than friends. They are family. And you’re a part of the family too.”

“I don’t think they’ll forgive me.”

“If Snow and Charming forgave me for separating them from their daughter for twenty-eight years, they’ll forgive you for separating them from their son for twenty-eight minutes. I think they already have.”

“What about Robin?”

“You’ll have to talk to him. But given all that’s happened, I think he will forgive you too.”

“You really believe that? I killed his wife.”

“Before you went back and changed the past, I was the one who killed her. Don’t forget that. And he forgave me for it. He knew I wasn’t the same person anymore. Prove to him that you’re also not the same person, and he will forgive you too.”

“What about my daughter? Will I be able to see her?”

“Without Robin, I can’t make that decision. But I believe you should, and I will tell him that.”

“Thank you, Regina.”

They emerged from the underground caverns back into the Underworld equivalent of Storybrooke, where the streets were deserted.

Regina turned to Zelena. “Now go find Hades. You might be our only hope of getting our family out of the Underworld. You know where to find us after.”

Zelena nodded. “I’ll do what I can.”

The sisters gave each other another hug.

“If anyone can do it, it’s you. And I’ve got your back.” Regina said, smiling. “That’s what sisters do.”

Zelena returned the smile. “Sisters.”


End file.
